Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There's no Sebae forum here so this one just seems like the next best choice. Anyway, my rock just ate and that was a sight lost in time by now. I've had other afrocks and they also used to go without eating for long periods of time.
Makes me wonder if that happens to me only or is it normal. Do any of you (sebae keepers, that is) find it hard to feed your pythons?

I don't know if you were here or not at the time, but we (the majority of the forum members) tried to get kingsnake to add a rock python forum, or to combine all the giant python species into a single "giant pythons" forum. We even put these ideas to votes and it was a clear landslide in favor. Neither attempt was successful and as a result there is still nowhere for rock keepers to post.

I personally LOVE rock pythons and I keep and breed many. To me they are the most intelligent and interesting of all the giants and in the years to come I hope to popularize this species. All of my rocks are docile (albeit with seemingly aggressive personality quirks that are most often misunderstood by misinformed newbies to rocks) and quite a treat to hold and interact with. I think that once the general herp public is made aware of the often baffling behavior of the rock pythons and how to correctly interpret what it means when their rock seems to get confrontational, (like aggressive posturing and loud hissing) instead of always simply assuming that they have a mean snake, then rock ownership will catch on. Unfortunately, still to this date the intimidating posturing that rocks tend to do, which is really 99% bluff, is misinterpreted as outright aggression. The result: A snake that ends up being left alone, and never held, and which always gets the incorrect rap and reputation for being a mean and unhandlable snake species. My hope is that once their behavior is better understood by the common herper that they can be more easily dealt with and this undue reputation will eventually go away. (Similar to the bad rep that retics had until recently)

Now, I am not alluding to wild caught and imported rocks that threaten to take ones head off and then will actually do it. Those guys often DO mean business. There is a clear distinction between that bad scenario snake, and the captive hatched/produced rocks that simply make a lot of noise, posture in intimidating positions, and even "bluff strike" as I call it. But one should ignore the fact that wild caught rocks are often highly aggressive. This is frequently the case in virtually every species available, short of rosy boas.

I would still like to see a rock forum eventually. I think that, even if it is a frequently posted forum that it can only do the species good in terms of giving SOMETHING for new rock owners to go to to read up on their seemingly schizophrenic snake from hell, and maybe get a grasp on how to better handle them and understand their body language.

Anyway, thanks again for bringing up rock pythons. It's very refreshing. To answer your original question, no I have not had any problems with my rocks going for long periods of time without eating. Mine are all EATING MACHINES and I can't remember any of them ever refusing a meal, even when blue. But try not to be concerned as long as your snake has a decent body weight. Like all big pythons rocks can go for long periods of time without food and still not be in any danger of being less than healthy. Of course the lengths of time they can go without food is entirely dependant upon their size and age. A great big 18 foot 200 pound female could probably go well over a year without food and barely look slimmer, but a young, 2 foot juvie might only go for 6 or 8 weeks before his fat stores are all used up. Less overall body mass = shorter survival time during famine conditions. It's geometrical.

>>There's no Sebae forum here so this one just seems like the next best choice. Anyway, my rock just ate and that was a sight lost in time by now. I've had other afrocks and they also used to go without eating for long periods of time.
>> Makes me wonder if that happens to me only or is it normal. Do any of you (sebae keepers, that is) find it hard to feed your pythons?
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores." Mia Miselfani